1. Field
The present invention relates to a method and a system for supplying multimedia contents to a plurality of clients linked to a network.
2. Description of Related Technology
As the information communication becomes speedier, the Internet is now considered as new media in which a single information source can provide various types of services. Now multimedia contents from various air broadcasting channels and Internet service businesses are serviced using the Internet.
However, in these Internet broadcasting services, users have to access each broadcasting sources or channels in order to receive broadcast programs, i.e., multimedia contents. For example, to receive broadcast programs from other countries, users have to individually connect to web sites of each broadcasting station and select desired broadcast programs from such websites. Further, in certain countries or air broadcasting stations, broadcast programs may not be available via the Internet, or the quality of services may be poor.
Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2005-0079175 discloses a method and a system for providing a broadcast service, which integrates broadcast programs from many distributed broadcast program providers and delivers them in one channel. In this method, a broadcasting schedule is created and various programs are formed to be broadcast in one channel according to the broadcasting schedule. In this method, the broadcasting schedule is created by the service provider without an input from users, and users may not have the opportunity to select certain desired contents.
Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2002-0065112 disclosed a method for supplying a multimedia Internet service, in which air broadcast programs and multimedia contents are supplied to an Internet web hosting site and stored in a database thereof. In this method, users connect to the web site, and can search for desired programs in the database and play programs in the database. In this method, the broadcast programs may not be available real-time, and therefore, it may not be suitable for certain programs like news programs.